


No one will hurt you

by ConvenientAlias



Category: Aladdin (1992), Disney Princesses, Mulan (1998)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Nonbinary Character, Other, Trans Fa Mulan (Disney), Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 02:44:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16904613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/pseuds/ConvenientAlias
Summary: Jasmine watches Ping's sickbed after he is injured. That's why the doctor reports his findings to her.





	No one will hurt you

Ping is feverish. His wound is infected. They say he may die.

It is Jasmine’s privilege to attend his bedside. That is how she thinks of it, a privilege, even though her father says that she is lowering herself to attend to a mere soldier. Not even a soldier from Agrabah, but a hireling from another nation, a mercenary. _A foreigner_ , Jafar hisses, and her father agrees.

Jasmine’s only response is, “He saved my life.”

This satisfies her father—it does not satisfy Jafar, who continues to send her dire looks. But she insists on staying at Ping’s bedside, watching over his illness. And when the doctor discovers that Ping is not who they thought he was—is not a _he_ , the doctor says—she is the one the doctor reports to. She accepts the report and says that about such a trivial matter, he need not bother her father.

Ping moans in his sleep. But perhaps he is not as asleep as Jasmine thought he was. He blinks eyes open at Jasmine and says, “Princess.”

His voice is hoarse and low as always. Jasmine put a hand on his shoulder. “Yes, Ping?”

“You know now. The doctors told you.”

She nods.

Fear is there in his squinting eyes. He struggles to lift a hand, and she gently says, “It’s all right, Ping.”

“I deceived you—”

“It doesn’t matter. You saved my life. I will protect you.”

“It’s against the law for a woman to bear arms,” Ping says. “For me to be in the army…I stole my father’s papers.” He—they? She?—thrashes an arm. “They’ll kill me.”

Ping is still delirious. Jasmine says, “You’re not fighting in the army. There’s no death penalty for hiding your gender here. My father might fire you, if I tell him. But I won’t.”

Ping’s eyes widen. “Princess…”

She strokes his cheek. “No one will hurt you.”

No one, she promises herself. If Ping survives this injury, nothing else will ever hurt him, or her, no matter what. Jasmine will be there, and stand in any enemy’s way.

If Ping survives this injury. If he survives the night.

* * *

 

When Ping is better, though still abed, they talk. Jasmine finally asks if he might explain himself. If he is a woman or a man. The doctor has one opinion, but Ping has always called himself a man, and Jasmine has heard stories of people with breasts and wombs like women who were still men nonetheless. She would rather hear Ping’s side.

Ping says, “The doctor surely told you I am a woman.”

“And are you?”

Ping gives her a look and huffs. “People don’t tend to ask me that seriously. I…I suppose I am. I was born a woman, and raised a woman. I like some parts of being a woman.” A slight blush. “But, I like living as a man. Dressing like this…being allowed to act like this…I don’t know. There was a time I did it—joining the army, I mean—out of necessity. But now I do it because I like it. I don’t think I fully think of myself as a woman anymore.” A shrug. “But I don’t really think I’m a man either.”

Jasmine touches Ping’s arm. Ping is still laid up in bed, and must be touched only gently. “Then you are one of those who lie in between, perhaps?”

Ping considers this. “I guess so. But, you can call me a woman. No one else does, and sometimes I miss it. And I…” She blushes. “I think I feel more like myself around you, a lot of the time.”

Jasmine cocks her head. She isn’t quite sure what that means, what to make of it. But when Ping smiles at her hesitantly, she supposes it’s nothing bad. She smiles, and Ping smiles back.

“Oh! But please don’t tell your father. You said you wouldn’t?”

“I won’t. You can trust me.” She squeezes Ping’s shoulder as hard as she dares, then steps back. “Ping…you should be careful of my father right now.”

“I should?”

“Jafar isn’t happy with you. I mean, you already know he hates how much time we spend together.”

Ping snorts. Yes, Jafar, is always breaking in on them whenever they have a moment alone, or sending Ping off on some inane errand even though in theory Ping is a member of Jasmine’s personal guard.

“Well, when you were sick, I stayed with you, and he didn’t like that. I guess I shouldn’t have done that.” Jafar can be dangerous when he’s angry, and Jasmine may just have made him very angry. But she couldn’t have left Ping alone, either. Ping might have died, and with no one there to watch over her. All alone in Agrabah, with no friend by her side. For Jasmine’s sake.

“No, I’m glad you did.”

“I think he suspects how I feel.”

“How you…”

Jasmine sits back down on the edge of the bed. She is nervous. She has known how she feels about Ping for some time, only, it occurs to her now that she may have misjudged how Ping felt about her. She doesn’t know, after all, whether Ping even likes women—besides, loving Jasmine would put her in a lot of danger, which she didn’t fully realize until now.

The outlaws who attacked them and injured Ping were, the official statement says, attacking Jasmine. But they were very focused on Ping, almost as if Ping, not Jasmine, were their goal all along.

If Jasmine were a good woman, she thinks, she would put her feelings aside. They endanger Ping, and she said she would let no one hurt her.

But.

But.

Maybe it’s selfish, but.

She clenches her fists. “He’s figured out that I’m in love with you.”

“Oh.” A brief silence. Ping laughs a fake, huffy laugh. “Ha! Well, Jafar is paranoid. You’re not…”

Her voice fades away. Jasmine says nothing.

“Jasmine, are you in love with me?”

She looks down at Ping. Ping’s eyes are wide open. It’s the same expression she wore when Jasmine promised to hide what the doctor told her. She is so very fragile, and Jasmine is not sure whether she wants to hear yes or no, and she is certain that the wrong answer will break her. But Jasmine can say nothing but the truth, which she speaks in a voice steadier than the beat of her heart.

Hearing the answer, Ping’s eyes shine. A breath escapes her lips.

She reaches out a hand and touches Jasmine’s cheek. “Princess.”

They really are going to have problems with Jafar, aren’t they? It’s been hard enough stopping him from harassing her about playing favorites with a mercenary; now she’ll have to convince her father to let her marry one, and she’s sure Jafar will fight her every inch of the way. But it’s all right. She has her soldier to fight beside her. Somehow or other, they will make it through.

**Author's Note:**

> My gender headcanons for Mulan fluctuate wildly. Generally I think of her as a GNC woman, but I sometimes think she's an enby or genderfluid, and I can see Ping as a trans man too. So, I hope that the way I wrote her here works for y'all. I'm not trans, so if I wrote anything offensive please let me know.  
> Other than that--this is my first piece of Disney crossover fic but I like the genre a lot :) so I'll see when I can return. Mulan/Jasmine is a ship I quite like :)  
> Comments and kudos would be much appreciated, or come chill with me on tumblr at convenientalias.


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